2003 US Tour
Starlight Express: The Third Dimension toured the US from 1 April 2003 to 13 June 2004, opening roughly a year after the West End production closed. The production was the first to feature new material written with American composer David Yazbek. As with the first US tour and Las Vegas productions, the race sequences were filmed, rather than performed live. Production Specifics In this production, Control was never referred to by name. Instead of beginning his announcements with "This is Control!", as he had in previous productions, he said "Attention! Attention, everybody!". The production marked the return-for-good of CB/Caboose, who had been cut from the London production in 1992, although he was resurrected in Las Vegas and has remained a fixture in Bochum since the production opened in 1988. The Rockies were updated as 'Hip Hoppers'. Stunt-staking race marshals, known as Trax, were introduced. Two national engines (Bobo and Espresso) and one of Electra's components (Krupp) were cut. The production recycled many costumes from the Las Vegas production, including the "showgirl" costumes for the coaches. Race Sequences The set design of the first US tour proved controversial with theatres, as it meant removing seats and, therefore, cutting potential profits. Producer Nick Howey wanted to find a way to do the races without having to remove seats from each venue. Drawing on his experience producing the Las Vegas production, which recycled filmed race sequences shot for the first US tour, Howey suggested creating new race sequences in 3DFraley, Michal: Skating the Starlight Express (2011), ISBN: 978-1-4583-7432-5. Julian Napier directed the film shoot for video company Inition. The skaters included Paul Ramsay, Trevor Hodge, Sarah Landy, Dustin Dubreuil, Kati Heidebrecht, Andrew Millar, Jamie Capewell and a professional stunt skater called Storm. The shoot, which took place at a disused munitions depot in Wales, was fraught with problems. Veteran skate coach Michal Fraley details the process in a whole chapter of his memoir, Skating the Starlight Express. Due to the reduced cast, the race structure involved three competitors in each heat, with Greaseball and Electra ending Race 1 in a dead heat and therefore both going to the final. No film exists for the third race, as the film crew ran out of timeFraley, Michal: Skating the Starlight Express (2011), ISBN: 978-1-4583-7432-5. This problem was solved onstage by having a fight break out before the race begins, causing it to be cancelled. The final race shows Rusty win the race pushing Pearl, and pulling Dustin, unlike in other productions where Pearl is left halfway through the race course and Rusty leaves the victory celebrations to find her. New Material Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Yazbek collaborated on a new song, "Whole Lotta Locomotion", which has a more modern Pop/Hip Hop vibe, focusing on what the Coaches need in a partner, without individual introductions. This production also introduced an updated Rap, attempting to sound more contemporary than the distinctly early 1990s flavour of the previous version. Similar to the 1993 Las Vegas production, Caboose's role was minimised with no "There's Me". When the tour started Caboose sang the full version of "Wide Smile" but the number was cut back to the non-song, intro and plot essential dialogue only version of the scene. Yazbek also rewrote other musical underscoring and recitative passages, such as the characters' introductions in "Freight" or "Dinah's Disco", changing the music and lyrics but keeping the same spirit and context. Some of these lyric changes were to clarify story telling; others appear to be change for change's sake. Some changes were made for colloquial American English - for example, "Poppa, you're mad!" was changed to "Poppa, you're crazy!" to clarify between mad as in insane, and mad as in angry. Many of these changes were eventually reverted to Lloyd Webber's original music. The pre-recorded races led to some interesting plot points: the third race was not filmed, so the Uphill Final was cancelled before it even began. The final race included Rusty crossing the finish line with both Pearl and Dustin, and was followed directly by "One Rock & Roll Too Many", without Rusty leaving to find Pearl. This was then followed with Pearl, alone, singing "Only He", without a plot device to explain how she is alone at the start of the song. The tour used a version of "Only He" that was a blend of the original 1984 version and the duet "Only You". One major reason the original version of "Only He" was not used in later productions is that is it very vocally demanding; many actresses could not do the song justice immediately after racing. However with the recorded races, the actresses playing Pearl on tour could devote more energy to the big solo. Opening night incident Starlight Express played two previews before its opening night in Biloxi. The actor playing Poppa was removed from the production after failing to turn up for the opening performance. He was found the next day and allegedly failed a drugs test. Poppa was played on opening night by Peter Hagen, who stepped in at a few hours' notice and performed without skates. Hagen played the role for two weeks while a replacement, Dennis LaGree, could be integrated into the companyFraley, Michal: Skating the Starlight Express (2011), ISBN: 978-1-4583-7432-5. Musical Numbers Tour Dates Tour Dates Reference http://www.beeptwo.com/pearls/mainframe.html Cast Additional Cast Members: Beverley Braybon (Dinah, November 2003), Peelee Clark, Gary Albers Emergency cover Poppa: Peter Hagen Skating the Starlight Express, Michal Fraley. Chapter: "Finding Poppa" Cast List http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/dyanarosejill/starlight/ustour/Tour_Main.html Gallery Nationals Coaches 201 us03.jpg Freight us03 09.jpg Finale us03.jpg Links Fansite - The Midnight Train X-ing Category:Productions Category:US Tour